Once one of the largest seminaries in the country, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has faced a financial crisis and now a feud among board members over a forensic audit of the school's finances.
Focusing almost entirely on the SBC not only minimizes the theological (and political and racial) diversity of Baptists, but it also privileges a patriarchal body over others.
In the same week as the Texas Baptists’ meeting, Black leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention and SBC President Bart Barber met over similar issues in Ridgecrest, North Carolina.
A letter from the president of the SBC's National African American Fellowship expressed concerns over recent SBC decisions to bar churches with women pastors.
Ethicist, pastor, author, and advocate David P. Gushee reflects on the recent Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly and what makes the denomination distinct from the Southern Baptist Convention.
This issue of A Public Witness adds historical context to the contentious meeting of the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. to consider what the debate about women in ministry means for that body and the broader Christian witness.
Saddleback had been the denomination’s second-largest congregation and until recently was widely touted as a success story amid larger Southern Baptist membership declines.
Barber's reelection seems to indicate that Southern Baptists approve of the direction the convention is going and marks the third time a candidate backed by the Conservative Baptist Network has been defeated.